Special
Report
Remember
When...
Notes and comments on the last 25 years.
Remember what it
was like to do business without a cell phone? If so, chances are
you’ve been around in the window coverings industry long enough
to appreciate how much it has grown, coalesce, improved and enriched
lives.
Here are some others who do, too.
COME TOGETHER
I joined the window coverings industry when there were only five
popular colors: spray green, sky blue, off-white, beige and rose-beige.
By the mid 1960s the industry discovered color. But the industry
did not become an industry until we had our own magazine and our
own trade show.
Draperies & Window Coverings magazine, under the leadership
of its founder and president, John Clark, began the process 25 years
ago. Early in the 1980s this magazine brought us the World of Window
Coverings that finally brought industry suppliers, dealers, and
leaders together to learn from each other.
During this past quarter-century I am proud to have been featured
on two covers and to have contributed more than 60 columns on sales
and management and, of course, I am an avid reader as DW&C brought
us profiles of successful business owners . . . good ideas to serve
customers . . . education to be a professional . . . and skills
to make money doing what we love to do.
Thanks D&WC for helping us all have a better opportunity to
grow and prosper. Thank you, John Clark, Carolyn Silberman, Howard
Shingle and all your great team that have given us 25 years of enlightenment
and insight. We appreciate it and look forward to your 50th.
Steven C. Bursten
Exciting Windows!
CustEmer.com
TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION
Over the past 25 years the window coverings industry has gone through
some major transitions, both in corporate structure and in product
offerings. Some large concentrations have taken place and these
now play a leading role in the market. Simultaneously, technology
has started to play an increasingly important role in window coverings.
Formed 20 years ago, BTX has been on the leading edge of motorization
and automation for window coverings ever since. The company has
positioned itself as a leader to meet to the fullest the demand
for motorization and automated hardware for the window coverings
market. With that goal in its sights, BTX developed its own unique
program of motors, hardware and controls for the widest possible
range of systems for draperies and blinds to roller and lift systems.
Several of these are patented.
The growth of motorization of window coverings systems accelerated
significantly after the turn of the millennium in 2000. Key drivers
are the increasing demand for luxury and comfort, as well as the
sheer size of new upper-end residential homes and the size of their
windows.
Because whole house automation networks are quite costly they are
primarily installed in the very upper end of the market. BTX motorized
systems integrate seamlessly with these control networks by means
of electronic interfaces. To bring motorization within the reach
of a broader mid market, BTX also offers a wide array of economical
solutions. These utilize the company’s own independent control
equipment that can form mini networks as well as offer whole house
control. There is a rapidly growing market for this les costly approach
to automate window coverings and shading systems.
BTX has become the leading company in the motorization of widow
coverings and it serves the national and international markets through
a network of more the 400 independent dealers and contractors. BTX
systems can be found in the top hotels throughout the world.
Jon Vrielink
BTX Window Automation, Inc.
THE MORE WE LEARN,THE MORE WE KNOW
Twenty-five years ago window film was perceived as a tinting device
for autos and the use of glass in home and commercial buildings
was a far cry from what it is today. Moreover, the public as well
as professional interior designers and architects were oblivious
to the inherent dangers of uncontrolled sunlight streaming through
glass.
In the fall of 1991, Vista®, a broad line of high-quality, high-tech
solar control window films, was launched to provide architects and
interior designers with the first means of preserving their designs
from premature fading, enhancing views by cutting sun glare, conserving
energy and helping to protect against harmful UVA and UVB rays—a
designer line of films for designers!
Seven years later in 1998 Vista introduced a range of spectrally
selective films, named Spectra Select, designed to block the sun’s
infrared rays (heat) without interfering with the visible portion
of the spectrum, thus maintaining high levels of light transmission
while substantially reducing solar heat gain.
In 2000 the dual reflective Harmony series utilizing precious metals
and nano ceramic layers to provide superior heat rejection and moderate
glare control was added to the Vista line up. Dual reflectance is
the characteristic of a window film whose inside and outside surfaces
have different visible light reflectance values.
Virgian Kubler
Vista Window Films |
